“Kill them?” I repeated, tensing. Luna’s face didn’t change, she stared at me with wide eyes.

“Yeah,” Luna replied casually as though the subject of the conversation was about where to eat dinner. “The best way to stop an Ashen is to kill them.”

“Isn’t there something else we can do?” I asked, feeling on edge by Luna’s stare. “I mean, do we have to kill them?”

“Ryo.” Luna sighed as she glanced down, the look on her face disappeared. “These people coming after us… they’re going to kill us, if we don’t kill them.”

“I-I know…”

“When the moment comes…” Luna paused, looking back up at me. “I want you to trust me to know what’s best.”

I fell silent at Luna’s words, thinking about what she said. It really didn’t seem like we had any other choice. It was either us or them, and I certainly didn’t want to die… but did that really justify killing another person? Wasn’t there another way?

Luna noticed the expression on my face. “Come on, Ryo.” Luna said softly, her face softening. “It will be okay... I will protect you.”

“I’m not worried about that,” I said, then opened my mouth to say more but paused. I shook my head. “Forget it, Luna.”

I pushed myself off the bed, walking out of the room. Entering the living room, I saw Mayu lying by the kotatsu table, a dull look on her face. She saw me, then her cheeks went pink, turning her body to the other side.

I couldn’t believe that she still was upset about yesterday. On the other hand, Luna didn’t seem to care at all when I saw her naked. Their two reactions were completely bipolar, I would had imagined Mayu was more carefree about this type of stuff, considering how she acted so confident all the time.

“I said I was sorry.” I called out to Mayu, trying to awkwardly laugh off the situation. Mayu didn’t respond, and I stared silently at her back. I tried a different approach. “It's not like I saw anything anyway…” I said, glancing up at the ceiling. “It was too steamy in the bathroom...”

She didn’t respond for a moment, then just as I was going to give up.

“Really?” Mayu suddenly said, taking me by surprise. I thought she was going to continue ignoring me. “Did you really see nothing?”

“Y-yeah…” I said, startled. I didn’t like lying but I also didn’t want Mayu to feel bad about what happened. I’d rather suffer the guilt of having lied than to have her feel embarrassed. “I didn’t see anything, honestly.”

“Okay...” Mayu said, breathing out. I guess that sort of eased her mind.

Luna walked into the living room from behind me, then stopped, glancing down at Mayu’s curled up body by the kotatsu table.

“Come on, haven’t you gotten over it yet?” Luna asked, annoyed. “We got things to do today.”

“I’m fine!” Mayu quickly jumped up from the ground at the sound of Luna’s voice. She seemed embarrassed that Luna saw her like that. “What do you mean things to do?” Mayu puffed, trying to put on her usual demeanour.

“We are going to catch the Ashen that’s been going around killing people. The one I told you about, on television.” Luna clarified, pacing to the bathroom. “I think I know who it is.”

“What?” Mayu seemed astounded that Luna had thought so far ahead. “Wait, hold on. First of all, how do you even plan on catching them?”

Luna was doing her morning routine in the bathroom, pulling out a personal toothbrush and toothpaste by the sink. When the hell did she even put that there? I didn’t remember seeing it before. “The murders aren’t random, there’s going to be another one happening tonight.” Luna said. “All we have to do is wait for it to happen, then ambush them. Simple.”

Luna said no more, as she started brushing her teeth, while Mayu contemplated what Luna had said. I went to the kitchen to prepare some cereal, waiting for Luna to be done with the bathroom. That was the problem with the apartment. It wasn’t made to handle more than one person living here, and certainly not one guy and two girls.

When Luna was done, I went in the bathroom after her, proceeding with my own routine which was considerably more straightforward and short compared to Luna’s. As I brushed my teeth, I listened to the conversation taking place between Luna and Mayu.

“How do you know the murders aren’t random?” Mayu asked suspiciously. “The television said the police didn’t reveal any information about the victims.”

“It’s not about who they are killing.” Luna sighed as though Mayu was a nuisance. “It’s about where they are killing, and the time the murders have been taking place.”

“Right…”

“From what we know, the Ashen has been making a killing once every night—”

“Hang on,” Mayu interrupted, “there were gaps between some days, so they haven’t always been killing once per night.”

“The gaps were the days the killings went undiscovered,” Luna explained, “I’ve already crossmatched the dates with people that have been reported missing.”

“Oh, okay…”

“The times of the murders have all been occurring between sunset and midnight, so it’s pretty obvious what time it will happen tonight.” Luna continued. “And from the way they’ve been moving between cities, it’s clear they’re going to end up here.”

I glanced behind me and saw Luna pointing at a spot on a paper map laid on top of the kotatsu table with Mayu staring intently by the side.

“Shinjuku.” Mayu muttered.

“Yep,” Luna said. “That’s where we will wait.”

I finished brushing my teeth, and walked out, motioning for Mayu to take her turn. She got up from the kotatsu table, then walked past me into the bathroom. She smelt nice… hang on. What the hell was I thinking? I shook my head and headed to the kotasu table where Luna was sitting.

“Didn’t you say you also know who it was?” I asked as I sat down. “Are they strong?”

“Not really.” Luna replied, then she smiled. “You shouldn’t worry, Ryo. I’ll always protect you.”

I laughed weakly, glancing back at Mayu. I caught her rolling her eyes at Luna’s words from the mirror.

The sound of city noise filled my ears, while the flashing lights of shop signs blinded my vision momentarily. We were at Shinjuku, and we were surrounded by people walking mindlessly in a chaotic fashion. I looked to my side at Luna and Mayu, both were wearing hooded jackets that covered their hair to disguise their appearances.

“We should split up.” Luna cried against the noise of the city. Cars were honking left and right, people were chattering loudly, and advertisements played from tall buildings around us. “Mayu, you go alone, I will go with Ryo.”

“What?!” Mayu said, biting her lips. “How does that work? Why do you get to go with Ryo?”

“I have to protect him.” Luna replied, waving Mayu off. “I’m stronger than you, so it makes more sense that I go with him.”

“Ugh…” Mayu conceded with a sigh, then flashed me a sad smile. “I’ll see you guys in a bit then.”

“Yeah,” I nodded, feeling sorry for her. “Remember to use the phone to call us if anything happens.” I had bought a phone for Mayu so that she could reach us anytime. It took a while to teach her how it worked, but in the end she got the hang of it. I also had to buy another phone for myself because my old one had broken during the first meeting with Kaori.

Mayu reached into her pocket, and lifted up a pink cellphone in her hand. It was a cheap one, the sorts that could only call and text, a sad reminder of how poor I was. The colour was her choosing.

“Thanks again for the phone, Ryo.” Mayu beamed, blushing slightly. “This is the first present you gave me.”

I felt my heart skipping a beat, looking at Mayu’s face. What was this feeling? My cheeks were growing hot. Did I also like Mayu?

Luna grabbed onto Mayu’s shoulders turning her away from me, and pushed her forward into the crowd. “Just hurry up and go.” Luna said, annoyed by Mayu’s words.

“H-hey…” Mayu stumbled into the crowd, eventually disappearing from view, leaving Luna and me alone. I didn’t know if being along with Luna was a good thing.

“She’s so annoying.” Luna grumbled, staring into the crowd, then turned to me with a completely different expression. “Let’s go, Ryo.” Luna smiled excitedly, almost child-like.

“Y-yeah…”

Luna moved up close to me, wrapping her arms around mine. I immediately felt my face growing hot. I wanted to say something, but Luna pulled me along with her as we started walking through the crowded streets. Her body felt so soft against mine, it was surprising to think that she was actually a killing machine behind the façade.

“We should go to that shop over there, Ryo!” Luna said, pointing at a girly merchandise shop. Dolls of all sizes and shapes were lined up behind the shop window, along with various feminine accessories. “It looks fun!”

“H-hey Luna, this isn’t a date…” I protested, but she dragged me with her, entering the store.

As soon as we entered the shop, we were greeted by the sight of even more dolls and items that were clearly targeted towards teenage school girls. Dozens of boy band wallpapers were plastered across the walls, and the smell of cheap perfume filled my nose.

“Welcome!” A voice sounded from the side, and I swung my head to see an old man standing behind the counter. He was dressed in clothing that seem way too young for his age. “Ah! A couple?” He said, seeing us.

“Hi…” I laughed awkwardly, rubbing the side of my head. “We’re not really…”

“Yes, we’re a couple!” Luna interrupted me before I could finish my sentence. She pulled me closer towards her, almost as though she was telling the shopkeeper I was taken.

The shopkeeper turned his eyes to Luna, and his face turned red, seeing her. “Wow, you’re extremely beautiful, young lady…” Then he turned to me, and looked me up and down with confusion. “You’re a very lucky guy.”

“Thanks.” I said, smiling with clenched teeth. What the hell was that? Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?!

Luna ignored the shopkeeper’s words, and pulled me along with her as she strolled through the aisle. “Woah, look at this Ryo…”

“Uh-huh…” I stared at Luna’s face as she pointed at another doll that I didn’t really look at. She looked so cute, it was amazing that we were actually somewhat together. Her eyelashes were so dark and long, and her pink lips strutted out enticingly without effort.

“—Ryo!” Luna called my name, staring at me with a frown. “Are you listening?”

“Ah, yeah!” I replied, my face hot. I glanced away from Luna’s stare.

“Really?” Luna asked dubiously.

“Yes…” I said.

“What did I say then?” Luna pushed on.

“Uh…” I tried to recall what she said earlier, hoping that my brain had somehow picked it up through osmosis. Nothing came to mind. “I… I don’t know.”

Luna stared at me for a few seconds before sighing and heading out of the store. I followed after her, feeling guilty about what happened.

“Already having a fight?” The shopkeeper asked as I walked past. I gave him an annoyed face, before leaving the store.

I mean, was it really my fault that I didn’t care about dolls? What kind of guy would be interested in stuff like that anyways? Ugh… But, I seemed to have hurt Luna’s feelings. That meant it must had been important to her…

“L-Luna!” I called out, pacing after her.

She stopped in the middle of the street, her back towards me.

I stopped as well, there was a distance between us. What was I going to say? Should I apologise? I mean, I guess I sort of had to here.

“I’m… I’m sorry…” I said, staring down at the ground. I scrambled my brain for something to say. “I didn’t know the dolls were that important to you…”

Luna was silent, her back still towards me. There were people walking past us, none of them paying attention to what was going on.

“I’m not upset about the dolls.” Luna said. She turned around to face me, and I could make out a hurt look, hiding behind a faint smile. “It’s just that we aren’t often alone together…”

“Luna…” I said, stunned. I didn’t know how to respond.

“I just wanted to spend some time alone with you, Ryo…” Luna laughed weakly, her cheeks blushing. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have gotten upset at you. I probably am just being stupid.”

“Y-you’re not.” I said, taking a step closer to her. “It… it was my fault, Luna. I’m sorry, I didn’t know you felt that way.”

“Ryo…” Luna was blushing wildly, staring at me. She looked so pretty, I wanted to just walk up and hug her tightly.

With that thought in mind, I took another step closer to Luna until I was standing directly in front of her. My own face was also completely red and I felt my heart racing inside my chest. Luna was so close to me, and she smelt so nice. I could even see her warm breath in the cold air.

“Luna…” I breathed out, gazing into her eyes.

She stared up at me with her cheeks still red. I leaned in towards her, moving closer and closer to her lips—

“What are you guys doing?” Mayu’s voice came from the side and I jolted backwards, surprised. I looked to my side at Mayu with a dumbfounded face. She was standing next to us, an annoyed expression on her face.

“W-what, Mayu?! How long were you there?” I stuttered, my heart still pounding from what was happening before.

“A while.” Mayu replied, giving me a crossed look. “I was searching for the Ashen and bumped into you guys out here.”

“Argh…” Luna made a noise that sounded as though she was extremely angry. I glanced slowly towards her and saw Luna glaring at Mayu with a seething look. Luna’s hands were clenched into fists by her side and an ominous aura reeked from her direction. “J-just one more second, and Ryo and I could have…”

Holy crap. Luna was going to explode. I was freaking out just looking at the expression that was on Luna’s face. It felt like she was about to leap at Mayu and slash her throat.

“C-calm down, Luna.” I laughed amicably, grabbing onto Luna’s shoulders and pulling her away from Mayu.

Mayu rolled her eyes, seemingly unaware of the imminent danger that she was in. She stopped when she saw someone next to me.

“R-Ryo!” Mayu’s face went alert, and I glanced to my side to see who she saw.

A hooded boy with long brown hair and a familiar face stood by my side. It was Ichiro.